Issue Briefs: Parking: Background

Parking at CSU campuses is an auxiliary enterprise that is required to be self-supporting: fees charged to park on campus are used to cover all expenses associated with parking—construction and maintenance of new lots and structures, and enforcement of parking regulations. Virtually all CSU campuses are experiencing increased parking costs, which manifest themselves as increased fees for users.

The CSU is in a period of rapidly expanding enrollment. The number of students served by the system in fall 2001 increased by an unprecedented 5.2 percent (20,136 students) and fall 2002 figures suggest continuing high demand. The rapid rise in students, along with the necessary faculty and staff to serve them, has placed a strain on campus services—not the least of these being parking. Between fall 1995 and fall 2001 total student and employee headcount increased by over 68,000 persons; for the same period, the number of parking spaces increased by not quite 9,700. Thus, there is increased urgency for campuses to build new parking facilities; at the same time, costs have increased in connection with routine operations for existing parking facilities. Both pressures—the need for new facilities and higher operating costs—are forcing campuses to propose parking fee increases.

But there is a big problem. At the CSU parking is a “bargainable” issue for all represented units or unions. The most recent contracts for the two largest CSU unions, California Faculty Association (CFA) and California State Employees Association (CSEA), include provisions that preclude any fee increases for their memberships in the current year and make any increases in future years subject to “reopener” negotiations. Because of the fact that union contracts have removed large numbers of faculty and staff from the pool of users, and since the campuses must fund their own parking functions from user fees, the campuses are forced to charge different fees to students, to non-union staff and other unions besides CFA and CSEA. This situation gives rise to two problems:

1. Divisiveness and rancor on campus: for a campus service supported solely by user fees, charging different fees to different users is perceived as unfair; and
   
   
2. Deterioration of parking facilities: some campuses may choose to postpone expansion of parking facilities, not wanting to charge different fees to different users to fund those capital projects. Failing to keep up with the demand, however, leads to further erosion of parking facilities.